Nature brought Bertha my way when we were admitted to Valley View University to pursue our Bachelor of Science in Nursing program in 2017.
She sat next to me in class and was such an affable person whose positive aura drew me close to her.
On a number of occasions, she proved to be a supportive person full of compassion and empathy, who would go above and beyond to meet her friends at their points of need. This became more evident to me when she offered to help pay my fees for our final semester in the program as I became financially handicapped. In many other instances, Bertha demonstrated that humanity was worth more than any form of wealth.
Our friendship remained cordial even after school and as though nature had orchestrated it, we both picked seed around the same period leading to our delivery in the same month (November) 2022. Even though childbirth was supposed to have been good news to celebrate, it was not so in her case, as the story turned unpleasant. Unfortunately, her childbirth was associated with an array of complications, ranging from pregnancy-induced hypertension, kidney damage, temporal blindness, and the cohorts, which nearly took her precious life. Alas! She survived but has to live with permanent kidney damage thus resorting to dialysis.
It saddens my heart deeply to know that, such a kind soul who is in her most productive years has been pinned on the death line and could only survive on dialysis or a kidney transplant (which are capital-intensive medical interventions). It will take people with her kind of heart to donate in support of her life and to give her child a chance to experience the love, care, and nurturing of a mother.
Bertha deserves our kindest intervention. Yes, she deserves to live!
Joyce Adoah (friend).